Adjustable stop for thread carrier rods



' G. GAsTRlcH ETAL ADJUSTABLE STOP FOR THREAD CARRIER RODS Filed Jan. 50, 1952 I I. E- l Dec. 20, 1932.

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ATTORNEY.

Dec- 20, 1932- G. GAsTRlcH E1' AL 1,891,472

ADJUSTABLE STOP FOR THREAD CARRIER RODS Filed Jan. 30. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 brackets to the carrier bars as in the Patented Dec. 20, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

GUSTA'V' GASTRICH, 0F WYOMISSING, AND MAX RICHTER, 0F WEST READING, PENN- SYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO TEXTILE MACHINE WORKS, OF WYOMISSING, PENN- SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA ADJUSTABLE STOP FOR THREAD CARRIER RODS Application filed January 30, 1932. Serial No. 589,820.

This invention relates to improvements in adjustable stops for thread carrier and similar bars of fiat knitting machines, particularly full fashioned hosiery knitting machines. wherein the stops on the bars are adapted to engage relatively fixed and selectively movable abutments or stop members, such, for example, as those employed with the splicing blocks, narrowing heads, etc. of the knitting machine, for limiting the travel or throw 0f the bars in shaping the stocking and during the formation of reinforced and other designed areas of a stocking or other knitted fabric being produced on the machine.

The stops of the prior art usually comprise a screw extending parallel to the bar and threaded into a bracket which is rigidly secured to the bar in such a manner that the bracket is not readily removable from the bar, for example as by riveting, consequently the range of variation in the positions of the stops relative to the bars is limited in each instance by the length of the stop screw.

In practice it has been found that the stop screws must necessarily be relatively short, in order that they may function accurately and reliably, longer screws having been Y`found to be unreliable and yieldable when extended to any considerable extent beyond their supporting brackets, due to the whipping action produced by the rather rapidly moving bars and the hammer-like blows struck by the abutment-engaging end of each screw when the screw contacts with the relatively fixed abutment to arrest the' bar against further longitudinal' movement.

The object of the present invention is to provide a greater range of variation in the possible positions of the engaging end of the stop screw with respect to the bar, whereby change in the throw of the bar is obtained, and at the same time to maintain the same practical short length screw'for fine adjustments and also to anchor or secure the stop to the bar with the same degree of rigidity as attained by riveting the screw-supporting prior art.

The construction by which this object is attained will be fully disclosed hereinafter, reference being had to the ings, in which:

, Fig. l is a side elevation of a carrier bar provided with an adjustable stop in accordance with the principles of the present inaccompanying drawvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan View of a portion of the bar illustrated in Fig. l, with the stop screw mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a transverse' sectional elevation taken on the line 3 3, Fig. l;

F 1g. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the invention; and

`Fig. 6 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the bar and the adjustable stop illustrated in Fig. 5.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. l to 4 inclusive, a thread carrier, narrowing, or other bar is illustrated at l. The bar l is provided with an elongated base bar 2 which is rigidly secured thereto as by rivets 3, 3. The base bar 2 is preferably of an inverted U-shaped cross section, having a top portion 4 resting on the top surface 5 of the bar l and provided with depending side flanges 6, 6 which extend downwardly from the top portion 4 on the opposite sides of the bar l respectively and which, together with the top portion 4, forms an elongated longitudinally extending recess or groove 7 into which the bar 1 snugly fits.

The top portion 4 of the base bar 2 is provided with a series of transversely extending grooves or recessed portions 8, 8 which are spaced longitudinally of the base bar 2. The grooves 8, 8 define shoulders or abutments 8a spaced at predetermined intervals along the thread carrier bar l, and are adapted to receive correspondingly shaped snugly fitting lugs or projections 9, 9 depending from the base plate 10 of a stop-supporting bracket l1.

The base plate 10 of the stop-supporting bracket l1 is also provided with an upwardly extending lug l2 which is bored and threaded in a direction parallel to the bars l and 2 for the reception and support of a relatively the reception of a securing screw which passes through a counterbored opening 16 formed in and extending through the base plate 10 and the underlying depending lug 9 thereof, the lower end of the screw 15 being threaded into one of the tapped holes 14 of the base bar 2. In the present instance there is a securing screw 15 at each of the opposite ends of each bracket 11.

The side walls of the grooves 8, 8 form the shoulders or abutments 8a with which the end walls of the lugs 9, 9 of the brackets 11 engage, and rigidly secure the brackets 1l against longitudinal movement relative to the base bar 2, the screws 15, 15 holding the bracket 11 down and preventing relative vertical movement thereof with respect to the base bar 2. It will be noted that the base bar or member 2 functions as an impact resisting means for the adjustable stop 13.

Longitudinal and vertical movements of the base bar 2 relative to the carrier bar 1 are prevented by the rivets 3, 3 which pass completely through the depending side flanges 6, 6 of the base bar 2 and the body of the main bar 1 disposed therebetween.

One of the relatively fixed abutments with which the adjusting screws 13 may contact is illustrated at 20 in Fig. l, such abutment being supported by a carriage 21 which in turn is mounted on a screw shaft 22 for movementin a direction longitudinally of and with respect to the bar 1 as in narrowing, widening or otherwise shaping the fabric being knit, or for controlling the position of the carrier bar in producing reinforced or other design areas in the fabric.

From the above, it will be obvious that relatively ne adjustment of the bar 1 and the thread guides (yarn carriers) or other instrumentalities which may be carried by the bar with respect tothe needles of the machine or with respect to other cooperating elements thereof may be attained by merely turning the screw 13 in its supporting bracket 11 in the usual manner, while great variations between the stop screw and the bar 1, such as would require an impractically long adjusting screw under the construction of the prior art, are attained by backing out the screws 15 and lifting the lugs 9 ofthe bracket 11 out of the transversely extending grooves 8 in the base bar 2, after which the said lugs may be reseated in others of the grooves Sand the bracket 11 subsequently secured to the base bar 2 by reinserting and tightening the screws '15, thus providing for a relatively Wide rough adjustment of the bracket 11 with respect to the bar 1, result1ng 1n change of throw of the bar and yarn carriers relative to the row of needles in each knitting section,

.after which the liner delicate adjustment may`l .be obtained by rotating the screw 13 in the manner above noted.

In Figs. 5 and 6, a modied form of the invention is shown wherein the bar 1a is provided with a permanently attached bracket or abutment 25 and an interchangeable bracket 26. The interchangeable-bracket l26 is provided at one of its ends with a lug or shoulder 27 adapted to abut against a corresponding lug or shoulder 28 formed on the permanently attached bracket 25, a screw 29 'passing through the lug 28 and threaded into by a turning of the lock nuts 13b, 13b, which are threaded on to the screw 13al at opposite ends respectively of the lug 12a. j,

This latter end of the interchangeable 'bracket 26 is provided with a counterbored opening 30 for the reception of a. securing screw 31 that is adapted to pass through the opening 30 and to be threaded into any oneof a series oflholes 32 drilled and tapped in the upper surface of the bar 1a at various relatively spaced distances from the abutting surface 33 of the permanently'secured bracket 25.

In this instance a number of the interchangeable brackets 26 may be provided, each having a different measurement from the surface 34 thereof, which abuts against the surface 33 of the permanently secured bracket 25, and the opening 30 at the opposite end of the interchangeable bracket which receives the screw 31 that securedthis opposite end of the interchangeable bracket to the bar 1a, the difference in the lengths of the respective brackets of the series of interchangeable brackets corresponding to the distance between the centers of the openings 32 in the bar la.

By this means the relatively large and rough adjustment of the stop screw 13a with respect to the bar 1a, resulting in change of throw of the bar and yarn carriers, is made by the substitution of one length bracket 26 for a bracket of a relatively different length and the fine adjustment of the stop screw with respect to the bar la is attained by turning the nuts 13b, 13b, in the manner above noted. i

For brevity in the specification and claims the term relatively fixed abutment is used in a generic sense to define a stop member which may be movable or adjustable to different operating positions, but which at predetermined times is fixed relative to a second stop member carried by the reciprocable bar for the purpose of engaging the second stop member to arrest the bar in its travel, andj means for obtaining a I'ine adjustment of the second stop member relative to the first named stop member defines means for obtaining a fine adjustment of either or both `of the stop members relative to each other.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinater claimed.

We claim:

l. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a stop member, a bar reciprocable with respect to said stop member, a second stop member carried by said bar and adapted to engage the first named stop member to arrest said bar at a predetermined point in its ath of travel, means for obtaining a fine adjustment of the second stop member relative to the first named stop member to accurately position the bar when arrested in its travel thereby, and additional means for varying the throw of said bar comprising means for detachably securing the second stop member in any one of a plurality of predetermined positions along said bar.

2. In a straight knitting mahine, the combination of a stop member, a thread carrier bar reciprocable with respect to said stop member, a second stop member carried by said bar and adapted to engage the first named stop member to arrest the bar at a predetermined point in its travel across a knitting section, means for obtaining a fine adjustment of said second stop member with respect to the relatively fixed stop memberto accurately position the bar relative to thev knitting needles when the bar is arrested in its travel by said stop members, and additional means for varying the throw of said bar relative to said needles including means spaced at predetermined intervals along said bar for detachably securing said second stop member in any one of a plurality of given positions along said bar.

3. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a stop member, a thread carrier bar reciprocable with respect to said stop member, asecond stop member carried by said bar and adapted to engage the first named stop member to arrest the bar at a predetermined point in its travel across a knitting section, screw threaded means for obtaining a fine adjustment of said second stop member with respect to the first named stop member to accurately position the bar relative to the knitting needles when the bar is arrested in its travel by said stop members, and additional means for varying the throw of said bar relative to said needles including abutments spaced at predetermined intervals along said bar for detachably securing said second stop member in any one ,of a plurality of given positions along said bar.

4. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a thread carrier bar reciprocable With respect to said abutment, a bracket member carried by said bar, a 'stop member carried by said bracket member adapted to'engage said abutment to arrest the bar at a predetermined point in its travel across a knitting section, said stop member having screw threads for obtaining a line adjustment thereof relative to the abutment to accurately position the bar when arrested in its travel thereby, and means for varying the throw of said bar including abutments spaced at predetermined intervals along said bar for detachably securing said bracket member in any one of a plurality of given positions along said bar.

5. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a thread carrier bar reciprocable with respect to said abutment, a bracket member carried by said bar, a stop membercarried by said bracket member, said stop member extending longitudinally of the thread carrier bar and adapted to engage said abutment to arrest 'the bar at a predetermined point in its travel across a knitting section, said stop member having screw threads for obtaining a fine adjustment thereof relative to the abutment to accurately position It'he bar when arrested in its travel thereby, and means for varying the throw of said bar including abutments spaced at predetermined intervals along said bar and a shoulder member on said bracket member adapted to selectively engage said abutmenrts for detachably securing said bracket member in any one of a lurality of operating positions along said ar.

6. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a bar reciprocable with respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said bar for engagement with said abutment, a shoulder on said bar, and a support for said stop detachably secured to said bar and having a surface abutting said shoulder.

7. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a bar movable with respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said bar for engagement with said abutment, a base bar permanently attached to the first said bar, mounted on said base bar, shoulders on the base bar and the support for lpreventing relative longitudinal movement therebetween.

8. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a thread carrier bar movable with respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said thread carrier bar for engagement with said abutment, an element permanently secured to the bar, a readily removable stop supporting element, a shoulder on the said permanently attached element,

a support for said stopv and cooperating v a shoulder on the readily re-` fiaoA vmovable support in abutting engagement with the shoulder of said permanentlyA attached element, and means for securing said support to said permanently attached element With said`shoulders in said abutting relation.

9. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a bar movable with respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said bar for engagement with said abutment, a base bar permanently attached to the first said bar and provided With a plurality of grooves spaced longitudinally of the base bar and extending in a direction at an angle to the base bar, a support for said stop, a lug on the support adapted to be seated in a predetermined groove in the base bar, and means for securing the lug in the groove.

10. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a bar movable With respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said bar for engagement with said abutment, a base bar permanently attached to the rst said bar and provided with aplurality of grooves spaced longitudinally of the base bar and at right angles thereto, a support for said stop, a lug on said support seated in a predetermined groove of the base. bar, and means for securing the lug in the groove.

11. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively ixed abutment, a bar movable With respect to said abutment a stop carriedy by said bar for engagement With said abutment, a base bar having one portion rest-ing against one surface of the firstsaid bar and a relatively angularly disposed portion resting against acorresponding angular portion of the first said bar, means passing through the first said bar and through one of said relatively angularly disposed portions of the base bar for permanently securing the two together, said base bar having a plurality of grooves formed in one of said portions thereof, a support for said stop having a portion resting in one of said grooves, and means for securing the said portion of the support in said groove.

12. In a straight knitting machlne, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a bar movable with respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said bar for engagement with said abutment, a base bar having a U shaped cross section providing a groove for the reception of the first said bar, means extending through the two `said bars for permanently securing the two together, said base bar having a plurality of grooves spaced longitudinally thereof at right angles thereto, a support for said stop, one portlon of which is adapted to be seated in a predetermined groove, and means for removably 13. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a stop member, a thread carrier bar reciprocable with respect to said stop member, a second stop member adapted to coact with the first named stop member to arrest the bar at a'predetermined point in its travel across a knitting section, the second stop member mounted in a supporting bracket carried by said bar, means for obtaining a fine adjustment of the second stop member relative to said first named stop member to accurately position the bar relative to the knitting needles when the bar is arrested in its travel bythe stop members, and additional means for varying the throw of said bar relative to said needles comprising means for detachably securing to the bar any one of a plurality of interchangeable suppo:ting bracketsvin which the stop member is secured in different positions respectively along said bar.

14. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a bar reciprocable with respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said bar for engagementA with said abutment, a bracket member permanently secured to said b`ar, a support for said stop abutting said bracket member, and means for detachably securing the support to said bar and said bracket member.

15. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a relatively fixed abutment, a bar reciprocable with respect to said abutment, a stop carried by said bar for engagement with said abutment, a bracket member p permanently secured to said bar, a support for said stop having one end abutting said bracket member, and means for detachably securing the support to said bar including means extending longitudinally of the bar for securing to said bracket member the abutting end of said detachable support.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

.GUSTAV GASTRICH. MAX RICHTER.

securing the said portion of the support in l` said groove. 

